to use
200 to 300 pounds of acid phosphate and 50 pounds of muriate of potash
per acre for this crop which should have a luxuriant growth for the
soil's benefit. Such use of fertilizers is more profitable than their
use on the crop which follows.

Harvesting with Livestock.--When the cowpea is made into hay, there is
always danger that the most of the plant-food contained in it never
will get back to the soil on account of a careless handling of the
manure. The practice of pasturing with cows and hogs is excellent. The
feed is rich, and the manure is left on the ground. There is a saving
of labor.

If the full fertilizing value is wanted for the soil, the crop should
be plowed down. The trailing varieties form a tangled mass that cannot
be handled by an ordinary breaking-plow, but a stalk-cutter, run in the
direction the plow will follow, makes plowing possible. Pasturing with
cattle and hogs sufficiently to reduce the growth so that a plow can be
used is good practice.

The Cowpea for Hay.--The hay is one of our most palatable
feeding-stuffs. Livestock may reject it the first time it is put into
the manger, but a taste for it is quickly acquired, and soon it is
eaten greedily. The high content of protein makes it exceptionally
valuable for young animals and milk cows, and the manure contains a
high percentage of nitrogen. The difficulty in making the hay is a
drawback, but this is over-rated. While rain discolors the vines and
makes them unattractive in appearance, the hay remains more palatable
and nutritious than good timothy, if the leaves are not lost in curing.
When the first pods turn yellow, the crop should be harvested. The
vines can be left in the swath until the top leaves begin to burn and
then be put into windrows with a sulky hay-rake. The windrows should be
small, the rake merely serving to invert half the vines upon the other
half, bringing new surface to the sun. After another day of curing, the
windrows should be broken up into bunches no larger than can be pitched
upon the wagon by a workman, thus saving the trouble of disentangling
the vines. If rain comes, the bunches should be inverted the following
day. In dry, hot weather the curing proceeds rapidly, while in cooler
latitudes or cloudy weather the curing may require a week. The chief
point is to prevent undue exposure of the leaves to the sun, and this
is accomplished by the turning. The hay will mold in the mow if not
thoroughly well cured,